According to director Mitchell Leisen, since this was the last film made at the RKO studio, a wrecking crew followed him around during shooting and, every time he wrapped a scene, the foreman of the wrecking crew asked him if he was absolutely finished with that set and wouldn't be needing it again. If Leisen said yes, the foreman called his crew in and they demolished the set as soon as Leisen was done with it.
This was the last movie to be shot at the RKO Hollywood studio at 780 Gower Street. Filming took place between early September and early November 1956 and again during the week of January 8, 1957. After sitting on the shelf for over a year, Universal International picked up the distribution rights, and the feature finally went into wide release in February 1958 on a double bill with Die letzte Kugel (1958), a Universal International production starring Fred MacMurray. Jane Powell quipped in a 1987 "Films in Review" profile that Universal-International didn't release the film; they simply allowed it to "escape". Out of respect for RKO, who had not produced the film, but who had been its intended distributor, Universal-International left its original RKO logo intact on the beginning and end titles, and this is the way it's now seen on TCM.
Cliff Robertson was forced to subject himself to a body wax treatment in order to have his chest hair removed for the 'Balboa' number.
The Castles-by-the-Sea homes are selling for $13,995.95 on Balboa Island, Newport Beach, California. In 2019, due to inflation, that is equivalent to $127,578.81. Quite a bargain. A two-bedroom home in 2019 on Balboa Island is selling for a minimum of around $1.6 million.